Question:
What is a wilful sin? See Heb. 10:26. When the still, small voice speaks to one who is walking in the light, and says to him in time of temptation, “Do not do that now, wait awhile, for it will be a hindrance or a detriment to your spiritual understanding,” nevertheless that one yields to the overpowering influence of the wicked one simply for the sake of gratifying baser passions of the mind, and commits the sin regardless of consequences, and this is followed by a troubled conscience, not because of the act itself, but because of not having a greater regard for the impulse of the Holy Spirit, is there hope for such a one, or has the poor mortal committed the unpardonable sin–sold his birthright?
Answer:
As to whether it is a wilful sin or not depends. The sin mentioned in Heb. 10:26 is a grievous, God-defying sin. It means not only that but continuance in sin. Compare the passage in Heb. 6:4-8. The ground blessed by God that continues to produce thorns and thistles is at last rejected utterly. So the heart that continually shuts God out and yields to the influences of the flesh sooner or later yields all. From the illustration used in the 28th verse of the chapter under consideration, it would seem that the wilful sin is one that wilfully sets at naught God’s commandments. The men who set at naught Moses’ law died without compassion. Of how much sorer punishment should he be worthy who had trodden underfoot the Son of God and had counted the blood of the covenant wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and had done despite unto the Spirit of grace? That is, the Son of God is counted no more than everyday things; the blood of the covenant no more than common blood; and the Spirit of grace no more than an impulse. By the very act of doing this, one who does this puts himself in a place where he cannot discern the Spirit of God–God’s voice speaking to him.
The danger to the sinner is not that he will come to that place where God will not forgive but that he will come to that place where there can be no sincere repentance. The very fact that there is genuine sorrow for sin is always an evidence that one has not passed beyond the limits of God’s grace, that there is hope for him. Hope vanishes when the sinner reaches that place where he has no genuine sorrow for sin. He may be sorry because of the effects of sin. He may be sad that he is found out. But he whose case is hopeless never has a truly grieved heart because he has sinned against God, who is so good, so kind, so merciful. Sometimes, when one has sinned grievously, he is uncertain about his condition for some time; he does not know whether his sorrow is genuine or not, whether his repentance is sincere or otherwise. God permits this so that the soul may be thoroughly tested. The only way for that one to do is still to trust God; take Him at His word. Read Isa. 50:10, “Let him trust in the name of Jehovah, and rely upon his God.”
The unpardonable sin is the unrepentable sin. There is no limit to the infinite mercy of God. That does not mean that it is not dangerous to yield to sin. The danger is even greater than it would otherwise be. The human heart so easily gets accustomed to doing what is wrong, that unconsciously it becomes hardened against the appeals of the Spirit of. God. Therefore, let this troubled soul say, “I will still have faith in God, I will learn the cause of my defeat, and I will yield myself anew to God, being more careful, more watchful, more zealous lest my feet slip.”
